The Shaykh’s warning against traveling to the lands of disbelief.

The Shaykh : From this, we urge Muslims to settle in Islamic lands that remain as close as possible to pure Islam, free from what has entered into it regarding beliefs, morals, acts of worship, and transactions, and so on, so that they are influenced by the wholesome atmosphere of the land. On the contrary, Islam warns most strongly against Muslims traveling from their Muslim land to a disbeliever’s land, whatever that disbeliever’s land may be. It is not permissible for Muslims to leave their lands and travel to the lands of disbelief, misguidance, and open sinfulness for any excuse, if their travel is with the intention of settling there. I mean what I say: with the intention of settling, because Islam does not prohibit traveling to the lands of disbelief under certain conditions that there is no room to mention now, for the purpose of trade, and the best of trade is conveying Islam to those lands. As for settling there, that is what the hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) have repeatedly reported, and the warnings have multiplied against going there with the intention of settling and making it a land in which one lives and dies. Among this is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), which is one of his comprehensive words: This is an indication that the home of the Muslim should be far from the home of the disbeliever. All this is so that he does not adopt his morals or be influenced by his customs. This was a custom among the Arabs, and this custom still exists among the people of tents in the deserts, where the owner of a tent lights a fire in front of his tent, and the other does the same. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said that the Muslim must pitch his tent far from the tent of the disbeliever. So what is the state of one who throws himself among the homes of disbelievers and polytheists, such that he hardly sees a Muslim except rarely, and does not hear the voice of Allahu akbar, La ilaha illa Allah, and the like?
The Shaykh : And among those hadiths is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Likewise, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And, with great regret, we find the effect of deviating from this noble Prophetic guidance in many Muslim youths who have been afflicted by leaving their Muslim land and traveling—and I do not say emigrating—to a disbeliever’s land. If there were no corruption in these people who traveled from their Islamic lands to the lands of disbelief except that they named those lands "al-muhajir" (the place of emigration), that would be enough of a sin and corruption. This is because they reversed the Islamic concept. Islam commands every polytheist who embraces Islam in his polytheistic land to emigrate from it to the lands of Islam; this is called a Muhajir (emigrant) if he emigrates from the land of disbelief to the land of Islam. The matter has reached the point that some Muslims today have reversed the issue, first in practice and second in thought. In practice, they travel, and sometimes they say they emigrate from the land of Islam to the land of the disbeliever, and they named the land—on the intellectual level—al-muhajir. As for the consequences, we are often asked: Is it permissible to acquire American, French, or any other nationality? We say this is among the greatest forms of taking them as allies, of which our Lord, the Exalted, has warned us in the Noble Qur'an, and He said at the end of the verse: For a Muslim to acquire the nationality of a disbeliever is among the worst things these Muslims who emigrate to the lands of disbelief fall into.
The Shaykh : For this reason, I said that a good land does not sanctify its residents if they do not do good deeds, even though a good land influences good in one who desires good, and a bad land influences bad in one who resides in it. Therefore, we advise Muslims with two pieces of advice, and with them I conclude this speech. I say: Whoever Allah facilitates settling in the lands of Islam for, he must follow the guidance of Islam. And whoever is able to emigrate to a non-Islamic land, he must return and repent to Allah, the Exalted, immediately by returning to an Islamic land, because the land is like the righteous man, as he (peace be upon him) said, explaining the effect of the company: This is the example of one who sits in the lands of disbelief. Now, if you have some questions, bring them.
The Shaykh : Yes, let’s see what Abu Malik has.

The questioner : There are people who pray.

The Shaykh : Yes? There are people who pray.

The questioner : I mean, they did not call the adhan, nor did they wait for us, nor did they invite us.

The Shaykh : This is the problem, this, this...

The questioner : The second congregation?

The Shaykh : This is for you to know the strangeness of Islam. I mean, this is the vast land of Allah.